


Friendly Competition

by Bluspirit92



Category: Torchwood
Genre: M/M, Mario Kart, Team Bonding, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-05
Updated: 2015-04-05
Packaged: 2018-03-21 10:16:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3688455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bluspirit92/pseuds/Bluspirit92
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Torchwood team introduces John to mario kart. It goes about as well as you'd expect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friendly Competition

**Author's Note:**

> this is set in an au where John Hart joined Torchwood after 2.01(kiss kiss bang bang) and managed not to screw it up too bad, and Rhys figured out about Torchwood in a calm way and is more of a presence. 
> 
> I've only seen like half of season 2, so my characterization and things might be way off, but it's an au, so that's my excuse.

When Rhys got his first Torchwood orientation, he was given a list of rules. The expected stuff, like what rooms he couldn’t go into, what things he couldn’t touch, and when Owen did his autopsies, so Rhys wouldn’t accidentally walk in and throw up in the operating room again. 

Then came the John Hart rules. There were the basic “don’t trust him, and keep him in front of you,” all said slowly like Rhys was an idiot. 

Then there was the strange “don’t kiss him,” which Rhys almost laughed at, but figured that Jack wouldn’t appreciate that. Not only was he happy with Gwen, he was straight, so the no kissing warning seemed pointless, but Jack seemed serious enough about it, so Rhys just nodded. 

Then came the really strange, “don’t play video games with him,” Rhys actually did begin to laugh at this one until a dead serious look from Jack cut him off. Rhys didn’t understand that rule, but he figured he wouldn’t be around enough for the crazy time-traveler to challenge him to a game of mario kart. 

 

He figured out the reason for the rule the next day when he came by to pick Gwen up for lunch. He found four of the team on a sofa, eyes fixed to the tv. They were in a row, Jack, Owen, John and Gwen. Jack had his intense, ‘ready to make hard decisions’ face on, Owen had the angry expression he got whenever someone kept a secret from him, John looked about as carefully disinterested as ever, and Gwen had her resolve face on. Toshiko and Ianto had walked by, noticed the scene and walked out even faster. Rhys, not having their knowledge and not wanting to interrupt Gwen, just stood behind the couch and watched. 

They were all playing mario-kart, and John was currently in first place, with Jack in a steady second, Owen in fourth and Gwen in seventh. Until a blue shell hit John and Owen slipped into first. That was when the game went about the way you would expect from Torchwood. 

John pulled a gun and leveled it steadily with Owen’s temple, while retaining his new third place position one handed. Gwen and Jack barely even looked over at the scene, like it was something that happened all the time. Rhys was surprised to find he could actually believe that this was a common occurrence. 

Owen let out a sound that was almost a growl and threw down his remote with an angry, “Fine, you win!” he stood from the couch and walked slowly to join Rhys, making sure to get in everyone’s way as much as possible. “Fucker,” he muttered when he was next to Rhys. 

Then John was in first again, the gun was down, and everything seemed mostly calm. Until Gwen took first. Now Rhys knew how this was going to go. Gwen did too, obviously. John turned the gun on her, not at her temple like Owen, but to the base of her neck, and if it weren’t for the the gun it would look like he was wrapping a friendly hand around her back. But this wasn’t friendly. Rhys was honestly worried he would shoot, and the only thing that kept him from moving forward was trust in Gwen, fear of the captain, and Owen’s warning hand on his shoulder. 

Gwen sighed loudly, and even unable to see her face, Rhys could perfectly picture her eye roll. She raised her hands in surrender, and set down the remote, before making her way to Rhys and Owen. Her “Fucker,” was much louder, and from what he had heard of John Hart, Rhys expected a sarcastic agreement, but all Gwen got was a shrug and the relaxing of the gun. 

Now it was just the two captains left. Jack had been in second the whole game, and even though Rhys wasn’t the man’s biggest fan, he found himself rooting for him, if only because he hadn’t pulled a gun on anyone in the last half and hour. But he didn’t have high expectations.

Jack took first place, and the gun was out again, not even a threat this time, just a sudden shot. Jack crumpled forward, a red hole in his head, and his character fell of the side of the track. Rhys tried not to gag. 

“I won,” John said in a happily surprised tone, and turned back to the others with a little smile on his face. Gwen sighed again and rubbed her forehead. Owen bit his lip, probably to keep from shouting and stalked out of the room. 

Jack sat up a minute later, and gave John a hard glare, which was met with an innocent smile and a repeated, “I won.”

“I wonder how?” Jack muttered and walked over towards Rhys. He rubbed at his head where the bullet hole had been and whispered conversationally, “Owen wants to show him Call of Duty and Halo, but we’re all a little scared of the war he might start if he was actually able to shoot things in a game.”

Rhys looked at John and found he was a little scared. John just blinked at them. Jack turned back to them and said loudly, “Fucker.”

“Sure, wanna do it here?” John asked, and Rhys began to back away. He really didn’t want to see that. 

“Only if you can beat me fairly,” Jack said as he sat back down on the couch and picked up his remote. 

“Guns aren’t fair?” John asked petulantly and Rhys rolled his eyes. 

“No, guns aren’t fair,” Jack said slowly. 

Gwen stepped up to the couch and held out her hand. John reluctantly gave her the gun and pulled up another game. 

John gave his opponent his best evil smirk, “So what do I get if I win?”


End file.
